America’s Got Talent judge Howie Mandel has postponed an upcoming show at the Hard Rock Event Center in Tampa, Florida due to the coronavirus pandemic. The show was rescheduled for November. Mandel and the rest of the AGT team have had a hectic week dealing with COVID-19, just as the rest of the entertainment industry reels from postponements and cancellations.
“I’ve have been looking forward to visiting [Hard Rock Tampa] on March 21st at The Hard Rock Event Center,” Mandel wrote on Instagram Friday. “Based on what’s been going on in the news and more importantly the fact that I can’t find my favorite pair of socks we will be postponing this show until November 20th! Looking forward to seeing you guys on November 20th and also hopefully finding my socks.”
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Mandel, 64, has been trying to keep his trademark sense of humor alive during the crisis. On Saturday, he parodied the rush for toilet paper by letting everyone know that even he could not find any. “[Oh my God] lucky me,” Mandel wrote in the caption.
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“Just came back from the store where my wife [Terry Soil] sent me out to buy toilet paper. They were out of toilet paper, but thank God I found this on the sidewalk just outside the store,” Mandel said, holding up a tiny tissue. “So we have some paper.”
As of late Thursday, AGT producers Fremantle still planned on filming episodes without a live audience, although upcoming tapings in Los Angeles were reportedly canceled. The show had to film two episodes with Modern Family actor Eric Stonestreet in place of Heidi Klum, who reported feeling ill during the week. She is suffering from cold symptoms, and said she could not get tested for COVID-19 due to the lack of tests in the U.S.
During the week, Mandel, a known germophobe, was also spotted wearing a full hazmat suit to a taping. On Friday, he told TMZ he was worried about contracting coronavirus, which causes the illness COVID-19, but “not from Heidi.” Mandel said he hoped Klum only had a common cold.
“I just wanted you to know why I have not been sitting in my America’s Got Talent seat,” Klum told fans on Instagram. “It started all with a chill, feeling feverish, cough, runny nose. Ummm, I’m just not feeling good so that’s why I’ve stayed home to not infect any other people. I hope it’s just a cold. I would love to do the corona test but there just isn’t one here … I’ve tried two different doctors and I just can’t get one.”
Mandel suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and has been vocal about his condition, which includes a fear of germs. He opened up about his condition in the book Here’s the Deal: Don’t Touch Me.
“I have OCD, I have ADHD, I have anxiety, I have depression, I go see somebody, I’m heavily medicated, and I’m constantly in fear and constantly uncomfortable and constantly fighting,” Mandel told Rolling Stone last year. “But it’s gotten to where I’m really comfortable with discomfort. I’ve learned that’s who I am, and that’s what makes me feel alive.”
Photo credit: Tibrina Hobson/WireImage/Getty Images
